Well happy Easter everyone!
My family and I just finished a nice long video call on Zoom, and I thought, if ever there was a “picture of the week”, this was it! All three of our individual family units, all huddled around a computer screen so that we could stay distant, but still experience some “together-ness”. If nothing else, this Picture of the Week will be a reminder of the ‘quarantine days’ in years to come, when this is all *hopefully* just a memory (and an odd one at that!).
I did also want to share some photography this week as well. Since it’s looking like India may well be the only trip I will take this year (which I did back at the very beginning of March), I’ve been trying to be intentional about photographing around the house and the area more. Who knows what other opportunities will happen this year! The other day I decided to shoot some dogwood blooms in black and white, because it felt like it had been a while since I had done that. I wanted something super contrast-y, so I shot it in the middle of the day when the light was harsh. While I was out shooting, a passing cloud provided some nice soft light and I ended up with a color image I liked as well! When looking at the series, I decided it fit well with the story I wanted to tell this week.
This year my friends and I did a few Bible studies that coincided with Easter, the last of which concluded with a daily reflection on the events surrounding the days of Jesus’ crucifixion and through to His resurrection. The study was REALLY good, and a nice addition to our other Easter traditions (most of which were radically disrupted this year by the COVID-19 virus). As I reflected, I was struck by how dark the day of His crucifixion would have been to His closest followers and family, as well as the time before His resurrection. It seemed fitting to use black and white to tell that story, as black and white has always struck me as essentially robbing the viewer of something (i.e. the color of the scene). But then in our Easter story, the glorious resurrection takes place; color is restored and made more vibrant by the depravity. This week I hope you got some quality time in with your friends and family, even if the quality was somewhat less-than, due to having to be socially distant. I also hope my small collection of images here reminds you of the amazing story of Easter.
Have a great week!
–Dan Thompson
